the chain gang

Rick and Morty Is Demanding McDonald’s Bring Back the Mulan Szechuan Sauce

Wubalubadubdub. Photo: Adult Swim

Adult Swim unexpectedly dropped the first new episode of Rick and Morty since 2015 on fans this weekend (it was an April Fools’ joke — the joke being nobody expected the announcement was real, so lots of people initially ignored it). The episode itself involves a Rick Sanchez origin story, which — spoiler alert — for some reason includes a quest to bring back the Szechuan dipping sauce McDonald’s released for Mulan back in 1998. Rick’s diatribe about its discontinuation seems like projection, though, because the plot point then spilled into real life after Dan Harmon and the rest of the writers started agitating on Twitter for the sauce’s actual return.

It started innocently enough after they dug up the original McDonald’s ad:

But Rick and Morty fans, who are out of patience, sprang into action almost immediately. Two separate Change.org petitions sprung up Sunday, and they’re already both past 11,000 supporters. There’s even a Reddit AMA request for “Someone who has tried McDonald’s Szechuan sauce,” so teenagers will grasp why barbecue sauce is an inferior choice for McNuggets. No doubt feeling excited, the show’s creators took the demand directly to @McDonald’s at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, and got a definitely not-a-no reply once the chain had a chance to think things over (or more likely, wake up and check Twitter):

For what it’s worth: As McDonald’s marketing team is surely aware, there is a live-action version of Mulan due out next year.

Rick and Morty Demands McDonald’s Bring Back Szechuan Sauce